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100,000 bonus Qantas Points with the American Express Qantas Business Rewards card

American Express are offering 100,000 bonus Qantas Points for new cardholders of the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card until 4 February 2019. The card replaces the Qantas Business Charge card, with a new card design and a range of enhanced benefits.

The card is targeted at smaller business owners, looking for a Charge card (meaning no caps on spending each month, as long as you pay the monthly bill in full) with the ability to earn Qantas Points, and boost the Qantas Points they can earn from their business travel with Qantas.

Qantas Points earned on the card are credited to a business’ Qantas Business Rewards account rather than a Qantas Frequent Flyer account, which gives businesses increased flexibility in how they can redeem points earned from spend on the card – Qantas Business Rewards allows business owners to transfer points to any Qantas Frequent Flyer member. Free Qantas Business Rewards membership is also included with the card (usually $89.50).

The Qantas Business Rewards charge card offers a variety of travel benefits such as complimentary Qantas Club lounge passes, and business-friendly features such as travel inconvenience cover and the ability to monitor expenditure.

Qantas Business Rewards allows small business owners to use their points with more flexibility

The key benefit of using Qantas Business Rewards as the loyalty program linked to the card is that the program allows you to earn Qantas Points into your Qantas Business Rewards account.

Qantas Points in the Qantas Business Rewards account can then be transferred to any individual Qantas Frequent Flyer member.

This offers an easy way to distribute points to staff members as additional rewards or incentives. As so it means the Qantas Points aren’t locked into a single frequent flyer account, so as another example, multiple company executives could redeem the business’ Qantas Points for flights or upgrades.

This is a big difference for small business owners, compared to using a card linked to a personal frequent flyer account.

Earning Points with American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card

As mentioned before, this card earns Qantas Points into a Qantas Business Rewards account. This means there are a number of advantages for business owners vs earning points into a personal Qantas Frequent Flyer account, which we get into later in this guide.

Uniquely, there are additional Qantas Points for flights booked on the card, with triple the Qantas Points earned in addition to the 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent.

The full set of points earn rates with the card are summarised as follows:

1.25 Qantas Points per $1 spent on all other purchases, except those listed in 0.5 points category (uncapped)^

0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent on utilities, insurance providers (with the exception of American Express) and government bodies, which includes the ATO (uncapped)^

Triple Qantas Points for your business on eligible Qantas flights – this is on top of the 2 Qantas Points per $1 earn rate on Qantas products

The earn rate for cardholders varies based on the purchase – most transactions will yield 1.25 Qantas Points per dollar.

However, purchases of Qantas products – such as Qantas passenger flights (with a QF flight number) purchased directly from Qantas, Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Club membership joining and annual fees, and accommodation booked through Qantas – will all earn 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent. Note that spend with Jetstar is excluded from the bonus.

Qantas Business Rewards offers additional points for flights taken by members in the account based on distance – the points earned are based on the number of points that would be earned by a Bronze status Frequent Flyer member for the flight (regardless of the actual status of the passenger), and a multiplier of between 20% – 40% depending on your Qantas Business Rewards Membership level.

Our full guide to Qantas Business Rewards explains this in more detail, but in short there are a number of different levels as you advance through the program based on how many points you earn from flying.

This means any spend on the card will count towards your Qantas Business Rewards membership level, meaning cardholders who spend and fly with Qantas are going to earn even more points from flying with Qantas. Higher membership levels in Qantas Business Rewards are going to be easier to attain given the additional earning power of the card.

So, summing up – for an eligible Qantas flight, a Qantas Business Rewards American Express cardholders would earn:

The usual number of Qantas Points into their personal Qantas Frequent Flyer account for the flight

Plus 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent when using the card

Plus triple the number of Qantas Points according to their Qantas Business Rewards membership level, which equates to an additional 60%, 90% or 120% of the Qantas Points earned by the individual Qantas Frequent Flyer member, with these earned into the business’ Qantas Business Rewards account.

Eligibility criteria for the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card

To be eligible for the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card, you must meet the following criteria:

Business owner with valid ABN – Sole Trader, Company or Trust

18 years or over

Australian citizen or permanent resident

Personal gross (pre-tax) annual income of $24,000 or more

Have no history of bad debt or payment default

The American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card comes with an annual fee of $450, which may be tax deductible if the card is used solely for business purposes. However, given the tax implications, you should double-check with your accountant or tax advisor.

Other benefits of the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card

The American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card is a Charge card, meaning that there is no pre-set credit limit. In return, you have to pay your balance in full every month otherwise fees and other penalties may apply.

Up to 99 additional cardholders free of charge

This is an account you can use to leverage your employee’s business spend too, with no charge for additional cardholders (up to 99) on the account, with appropriate reporting available through American Express’ online systems to keep tabs on spending.

This guide references some of the benefits of insurance policies provided with this card.

You should read the PDS and obtain independent professional advice before obtaining this product.

Keeping track of business spending

To assist with keeping track of the business’s financial performance and spending, The American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card allows for statements and transaction details to be downloaded and balances to be viewed using Quicken, MYOB or Microsoft Excel.

American Express Apple Pay & Android Pay support

American Express cards support both Apple Pay & Android Pay, meaning you can use this card on your smartphone for easier payments. Find out more in our guides for each of the compatible services.

100,000 bonus Qantas Points with the American Express Qantas Business Rewards card was last modified: November 8th, 2018 by Keith

Eligibility criteria for bonus points for existing American Express Card Members

American Express are quite specific about whether existing Card Members will be eligible for bonus points if they apply for a card, are approved, and meet the minimum spend criteria.

If you hold a bank-issued American Express – such as from Westpac, Commonwealth Bank or NAB – that won’t affect whether you’re eligible for bonus points with an American Express branded card offer. There’s more in our guide to this here.

However American Express don’t allow existing cardholders, even for different types of American Express cards (e.g. Charge, Credit or Business) to be eligible for bonus points offers for cards in a different family.

100,000 bonus Qantas Points with the American Express Qantas Business Rewards card was last modified: November 8th, 2018 by Keith

Summing Up – American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card

Overall, this is a card well worth considering by business owners looking for more Qantas Points from their business spend, even more so given the link to Qantas Business Rewards offering more flexibility in how business owners can direct their points when they want to redeem them.

It would work especially well if the business’s primary travel spend and patterns are with Qantas and paid for by the business directly given the opportunity to earn more points again from the bonus categories.

It will also appeal to those looking at the benefits of a charge card, with no pre-set credit limit meaning businesses can put through larger transactions on their Card and earn points at a rate of $1 = 1.25 Qantas Points.

The Qantas Business Rewards card may have a relatively high annual fee, but with good points earn rates and no points capping on card business spend, it can offer value for those looking to earn Qantas Points through their business’ everyday spending and travel.

American Express & Qantas Business Rewards Disclaimers

^ A business must be a Qantas Business Rewards Member to earn Qantas Points for business. Membership and the earning of Qantas Points as a business are subject to the Qantas Business Rewards Terms and Conditions. Points are earned in accordance with and subject to the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card Points Terms and Conditions. Your business will earn 1.25 Qantas Points per $1 of everyday spend, which does not include annual fees, late payment fee, fees and charges for travellers cheques and foreign currencies. Your business will earn 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent at participating merchants classified as “utilities” including gas, water and electricity providers; “government” including the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Postal Corporation, federal/state and local government bodies; and “insurance” excluding insurances offered by American Express. Your business will earn 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent on the following Qantas Products and Services purchased on the Qantas merchant account (i.e. directly from Qantas): Qantas passenger flights (with a QF flight number), Qantas Holidays, Qantas Branded non-airfare products, and Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Club membership joining and annual fees. Excludes Jetstar. For the full list of exclusions, please refer to the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card Points Terms and Conditions.

# A business must be a Qantas Business Rewards Member to earn TRIPLE Qantas Points for business. TRIPLE Qantas Points for business are only available for American Express Qantas Card Member when the Card is used to make an eligible Qantas flight booking. An eligible flight means a domestic or international flight which has a Qantas ‘QF’ flight number on the ticket that is purchased in Australia; is operated by Qantas, Emirates or American Airlines; has a ticket number commencing with ‘081’; and is booked and travelled for business on or after the date the business registers for Qantas Business Rewards. A Member’s ABN and traveller’s Qantas Frequent Flyer number must be quoted at the time of booking to earn Qantas Points for both the business and the traveller. Qantas will allocate 3 times the number of Qantas Points to the business under the Qantas Business Rewards Airline Reward Scheme terms and conditions. The maximum number of Qantas Points that can be earned from flying by a business with the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card is 4,000,000 per membership year as per the Triple Qantas Points for business benefit terms and conditions.

* Offer only available to new American Express Card Members who apply by 26 September 2018, are approved and spend $3,000 on their new Card in the first 2 months from the Card approval date. Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any other Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18 month period are ineligible for this offer. Previous and existing bank-issued American Express companion Card Members are eligible for this offer (cards issued by: Australia New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, Westpac Banking Corporation). 60,000 bonus Qantas Points will be awarded to the eligible Card Member’s account 8-10 weeks after the spend criteria has been met. This advertised offer is not applicable or valid in conjunction with any other advertised or promotional offer. Subject to the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card Points Terms and Conditions.

100,000 bonus Qantas Points with the American Express Qantas Business Rewards card was last modified: November 8th, 2018 by Keith

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Comments

How would a charge card affect my credit rating compared to a credit card? Also, an insurance policy of mine was defaulted 18 months ago due to a replacement card being issued and me forgetting to update my credit card debit details… How would that affect my application? (FYI that credit card was recently paid off & cancelled) Cheers

Where can I find details on the requirement for new members to “spend $3,000 on their new Card in the first 2 months from the Card approval date …” I can’t see this in writing in any of the 3 terms and conditions brochures, or list of FAQs shown for this card on the AMEX website.

As far as we know, Amex assess small business cards against the individual applying even though the application looks at the company as well. This means holding any Amex-issued card product in the preceding 18-month period will rule you out for this bonus offer.